Updates

Israel

The peace deal seems to be holding between Israel and Hamas. 20 living hostages were returned this week along with the remains of four who died or were killed. Another 24 bodies are expected to be returned.

Meanwhile, Hamas is executing Palestinians it feels have betrayed it or otherwise have not been fully supportive. The reports are chilling. At the same time, many of those calling for a ceasefire from the moment Israel started to fight back have remained silent. One wonders if the ceasefire was not their objective.

Pres. Trump has also publicly stated that if Hamas does not disarm voluntarily as part of the agreement they signed they will be forced to do so in a very violent way. This is his most clear statement yet that the United States, or perhaps all those who signed onto the agreement this week in Egypt (?), would enforce the agreement.

Shutdown

The Shutdown continues. It is not getting a lot of attention at the moment, possibly because of the good news out of the Middle East.

Pres. Trump has directed the Secretary of War to find money in his budget to pay members of the military, thus taking away a lot of the political ammunition of his opposition. Other parts of his administration are actively eliminating and reducing workforces.

As the contest currently stands, the Republicans have little to lose in a prolonged government shutdown. Many of the results—eliminating or reducing bureaucracies—have been longstanding Republican ambitions.

The Democrats are seeing a lot of their preferred programs and constituencies (government employees, for example) suffer. But any compromise will look like capitulation to their more radical supporters. Those people will be out this weekend in D.C. for what they are calling a “No Kings” rally. Charles III could not be reached for comment.

Redistricting

States are continuing to redistrict in advance of the 2026 midterm elections. California’s referendum looks likely to win, which will allow the Governor to ignore the nonpartisan commission that normally handles this matter. He is expected to move district lines around in order to gain perhaps as many as five safe districts for his party, the Democrats. Meanwhile, Republican led states are on course to outstrip his numbers and give a clear advantage to their party.

In related news, the Supreme Court heard a case today about the 1965 Voting Rights Act. One provision of the Act has required states to make minority-majority districts. These are districts specifically drawn (gerrymandered) to produce a constituency that is mostly made of racial minorities. Given the history of the country, this almost always means carving out a district that is majority black.

The state of Louisiana in its most recent redistricting eliminated a minority-majority district, added two, retracted them then did something else. It’s hard to follow. The important part is that the question before the Court is whether such districts, being based on racial characteristics, violate the Constitution.

If the Court decides that such districts are unconstitutional, there are several other states that could eliminate their minority-majority districts. Given that African Americans in particular vote for Democrats far more than for Republicans, eliminating these districts could add another significant number of safe seats for the Republicans in the midterms.

Nigeria

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced legislation to protect Christians in Nigeria, the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act. In Europe, the Romanian National football (soccer) team unfurled a banner reading “Defend Nigerian Christians” at their World Cup qualifying match.

DNN gets results!